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With Unify for Climate, Second Nature invites the higher education sector into a new era of climate action—launching new guidance and a milestones program built for institutions of every type, from community colleges to research universities. Together, these resources help institutions accelerate progress toward their own climate goals while strengthening collective capacity and impact across higher education. The moral imperative for climate action is undeniable—and so is the vital role higher education plays in helping society meet the challenges of climate change.
Unify for Climate offers inclusive and low-barrier-to-entry opportunities for participation:
Available to the sector as a whole, shaped for and with leading institutions.
Guides progress and recognizes achievement of significant actions across higher education’s diverse strengths.
Available through Second Nature and partners will refine and deepen institutional and collective implementation of the guidance.
Available for institutions through Second Nature via Signatory, Affiliate, or University Climate Change Coalition membership.
Unify for Climate is essential for the higher education sector, providing:
Translate science-aligned guidance into practical targets and near-term steps.
Solutions leverage institutional distinctiveness to demonstrate climate leadership.
Strengthen transparency, recognition, and comparability so progress can be clearly understood and communicated.
Help higher education demonstrate what the sector can achieve—together, at scale.
For twenty years, Second Nature has stewarded higher education’s most ambitious and impactful climate program: the Climate Leadership Commitments. What began as a shared vision established the world’s largest and longest-standing voluntary carbon commitment, established the sustainability profession as a core campus climate leadership role, and unlocked large-scale energy and infrastructure projects. Currently, nearly 400 higher education institutions are signatories to the Climate Leadership Commitments.
These two decades of experience—working alongside institutions with diverse missions, capacities, and constraints—positions the organization to guide and support a new era of climate leadership, through the Commitments and beyond.
Second Nature is introducing updated guidance tailored for higher education—aligned with the latest science and leading climate-action frameworks. It reframes climate leadership around ambitious, science-aligned targets and greater transparency, with recommendations that institutions can use regardless of size, budget, or starting point.
Second Nature is launching a new milestones program designed to guide and accelerate progress—and to recognize achievement across the climate action journey. Milestones create clear, nearer-term markers of progress across institution types, supporting momentum while strengthening sector-wide learning.
Even for institutions that are not seeking recognition right away, milestones provide a practical set of targets that clarify what meaningful climate leadership looks like across higher education—and help translate long-term goals into measurable progress.
Milestone badges are available to institutions that are members of Second Nature through the Signatory, Affiliate, or UC3 pathway. Institutions apply with supporting documentation; Second Nature reviews submissions and issues badges when milestones are verified.
If your institution is already a signatory to the Carbon, Resilience or Climate Commitment, your existing commitment does not need to change with this call to action. Signatories can use the updated guidance and milestones program to strengthen their existing work on carbon neutrality or resilience. Existing signatories may choose to:
Move up a carbon neutrality date to increase ambition.
If an existing signatory chooses to remove a carbon neutrality target and commit to decarbonization instead, Second Nature invites the institution to re-sign the Carbon or Climate Commitment.
New signatories will have the opportunity to commit to decarbonization by 2050, with the option to name a nearer-term carbon neutrality date as a campus goal.
Institutions do not need a public climate commitment to pursue climate action using the new guidance and milestones. Please contact our team to get involved.
Carbon neutrality remains an important target—but in this next chapter it is positioned as a meaningful milestone on the path to decarbonization by mid-century.
No, institutions do not need a public climate commitment to get involved. Second Nature’s Guidance, Milestones metrics, and several support programs will be available to the sector as a whole. Recognition through the milestones program, additional network support programs, educational resources, and capacity-building opportunities are available through Second Nature membership. Institutions wishing to make a public commitment to climate action may do so via the Climate Leadership Commitments and Second Nature’s Signatory pathway. Institutions wishing to join Second Nature without a public commitment are encouraged to explore the Affiliate member pathway.
No. If you are a signatory to the Climate Commitment or the Carbon Commitment, you do not have to re-sign the commitment, and we encourage you to use the updated guidance and milestones to bolster your longstanding action. However, if you have a carbon neutrality date positioned close to or beyond mid-century, Second Nature encourages you to move that neutrality commitment up and position it as a nearer-term target, and consider the opportunity through Unify for Climate to adopt an additional decarbonization target. You may do this without re-committing, provided that you have the decision-making capacity to add a decarbonization target to your institution’s ambition. If you are an existing signatory and you need a presidential endorsement to move your carbon neutrality date, add a decarbonization target, or change your target from neutrality to decarbonization, Unify for Climate and its related science-based guidance offers you the support and opportunity to pursue re-signing the commitment.
Second Nature will work with you to determine the best option for your institution. We encourage you to move your date, consider a decarbonization target instead, or consider our affiliate membership pathway.
Second Nature and SIMAP will introduce several new data entry fields within the GHG calculator and reporting platform that allow campuses to more thoroughly disclose their climate action. Most of these fields will be optional and will allow campuses to provide qualitative context to clarify the quantitative information included in their report. In some cases, new fields are required because Second Nature, SIMAP, and members of the network agreed that greater transparency pertaining to these data points would lead to higher integrity in individual campus climate reporting, and/or greater impact in collective action.
We would like to see campuses move towards accounting for the additional Scope III category of “Waste Generated in Operations” which includes: solid waste and wastewater. Most campuses are already tracking and reporting waste. Waste is something that many campus users interact with on a daily basis. Waste is visible on campus and several campus constituencies care about waste issues. Given that there are opportunities for better management, influence in our local communities, and levers campuses can pull to address waste issues, Second Nature thinks it’s important to track and reduce waste generated in operations. Second Nature will share an on ramp plan for reporting for those who don’t already track waste. Additional resources will be shared on waste minimization, management, and improvement as well as reporting.
The Milestones will operate on a rolling submission basis. Institutions will complete a short form to indicate to Second Nature that they have achieved a milestone, and provide supporting data or links as necessary. Second Nature will review the submission and issue a badge to institutions to signify that the milestone has been reached. Each milestone is different: some have specific targets, some may only be claimed once, and some may be applied retroactively. Please review the milestones in more detail here.
No. Unify for Climate was informed by extensive research and input from a broad range of higher ed stakeholders to reflect the most current and effective approaches to institutional climate action, and the sector as a whole is encouraged to use it. Experts and leaders both within and outside of higher education are also invited to review the guidance and partner with us to align and continuously improve it. Recognition through the milestones program is specifically for members of Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Network, through the Affiliate, Signatory, or UC3 member pathways.
Thank you to all those who contributed to shaping the next generation of climate action guidance for higher education.
Second Nature has heard the critiques and suggestions over the years, watched the research and applied practice, and learned our place in shaping sector action. We accomplish this work by doing it together. We recognize all campuses who are committed to progress on climate, educating the next generation, and improving society. The power of the Climate Leadership Network is thanks to all participating.
The work was driven by the members of the Commitments 3.0 Working Group. We are also grateful to individuals at campuses, corporations, and researchers who contributed their expertise to this process. Thank you for your insights, time, and thoughtful contributions.
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